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Little cubes of curry paste

I have become borderline obsessed with making my own curry pastes and I can guarantee that once you start, you will be as well. They are a million times better than the cans/jars/tubes of curry paste! The problem is that curry pastes do take a while to make, especially when you get home from work and just want to eat the entire fridge. Enter the silicone ice-cube tray.

I made 2 cubes of 5 different curry pastes, and whenever I want a curry I just pop one out and get cooking! It is worth the time to just take an afternoon and bust out an ice-cube tray of curry paste and then relish in your genius all week as you eat tasty tasty curries.

The ones I made were: Roasted chili garlic curry paste, green curry paste, mussaman curry paste, yellow curry paste and then a jerk marinade that it amazing. And the best part is that I managed to make 5 chili based curries without touching my eyes/face which is an incredibly uncomfortable experience to say the least. Here are the recipes I followed, feel free to leave out ingredients if you don’t like them or scale things up and down according to your taste preferences- that’s the whole idea behind making it yourself!

Green curry paste-(adapted from Food of the world: Thailand)

1.5 teaspoon coriander seed (substitute: ground coriander)

1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (substitute: ground cumin)

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

6 green chiles

2 shallots, chopped (substitute: red onion)

1/2 inch galangal, chopped (substitute: ginger)

1 lemon grass stalks (substitute: lemon peel)

1 tablespoon cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Method: If using cumin and coriander seeds, dry fry in a skillet for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant and browned. Grind in mortar and pestle (if using) or process in a blender along with all the other ingredients and process until smooth and fine.

Yellow Curry Paste (adapted from Food of the world: Thailand)

2 small orange or yellow chiles, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

4 shallots, chopped (substitute: red onion)

2 teaspoons turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 black peppercorns

1 lemon grass stalk (substitute: lemon peel)

1 inch ginger, chopped

Method: put all the ingredients in a food processor or mortar and pestle until smooth

Mussaman Curry Paste (Adapted from Food of the world:Thailand)

3 large dried chiles

1 teaspoon shrimp paste

2 shallots, chopped (substitute: red onion)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 inch galangal, chopped (substitute: ginger)

1 lemon grass stalk (substitute: lemon peel)

2 cloves

1.5 teaspoon coriander seed (substitute: ground coriander)

1.5 teaspoon cumin seed (substitute: ground cumin)

Seeds from 2 cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method: Dry fry everything together until lightly browned, transfer to a food processor or mortar and pestle and process until smooth, adding tiny amounts of water if necessary.

Jerk Mix (adapted from Marcus Samuelsson’s Discovery of a continent)

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 jalapeno chiles, chopped

1 tablespoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cayenne

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon white pepper (substitute: black pepper)

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 scallions, chopped (substitute: red onion)

1/3 cup lime juice

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Method: heat oil in pan over medium heat, add garlic and jalapeno and saute until garlic just starts to brown. Add allspice, cinnamon, cayenne and brown sugar and cook stirring constantly until mixture starts to clump together as the sugar melts. transfer mixture to a food processor (or mortar and pestle) and all the white pepper, thyme, salt, ginger, scallions, lime juice and vinegar and process until smooth.